Matches
by Moonrise31
Summary: Roy discovers the awesomeness of matches. Riza decides to have some fun. Set when Roy and Riza are kids.


**A/N: I was doodling when I came up with this idea. Then it wouldn't stop bugging me until I wrote it. Yes, I am so obsessed with Fullmetal Alchemist that I have tried to draw the characters. And failed. Sometimes. Okay, most of the time, but I can draw Roy and Riza pretty well, so that's all that matters, right? :D**

**I'm assuming that Roy and Riza are four years apart, so play along, okay? ;)**

**Disclaimer: Um...no. Still don't own anything. Except for a FMA Rubik's cube, which is pretty awesome. In China, they have whole stores dedicated to anime and manga! 8D**

Eleven-year-old Roy Mustang had been Master Hawkeye's apprentice for almost two weeks. Hawkeye had been working the boy extra hard to see if he was worth keeping. Apparently, Roy had passed the assessment and was being rewarded with an hour break. _But what to do with it?_

Roy was aware that Hawkeye had a daughter who was roughly seven years old. Maybe he could play with her. Doing anything not alchemy-related was just fine with him. He'd already had enough to last a lifetime; maybe two. Which didn't mean he didn't _want _to learn alchemy anymore. It was just that, well, Master wasn't the _nicest_ teacher around…

In his musings, Roy passed the kitchen and did a double-take. There was the girl—what was her name? Marissa? Sarah? Lisa? Riza!—standing on a stool and lifting a large tea kettle onto the stove. Grabbing a box from the counter, Riza proceeded to light a match and start the stove.

Roy stared. The fire. It was almost magical. It danced and flickered and boiled water at the same time. And that tiny match had started it all.

"Mr. Mustang?"

"Ah?" Roy blinked and shook his head to clear his thoughts. Riza was looking at him. "Um…" She was a pretty girl.

"Do you need something, Mr. Mustang?"

"Oh! Uh, no, nothing. But please stop calling me 'Mr. Mustang.' I'm still a kid. 'Roy' is just fine." Roy grinned and tried not to look flustered.

"Okay then, Mi—Roy." Riza seemed slightly amused. His act hadn't fooled her.

"Uh…one thing."

Riza looked at him expectantly.

"…Can I see those matches?"

Although a bit confused at his strange request, Riza handed him the box. Roy slid the cover off and gingerly fished out a match. He struck it against the side of the cover and immediately became entranced in the flame. It seemed to be created by friction, which was really excessive heat…that was obvious! He berated himself for thinking of such basic observations. But the colors of the fire kept distracting him. There was orange and yellow; just a tinge of—the match blew out.

Roy didn't realize it at first, and so began contemplating the color of smoke. When it finally dawned on him, he turned to Riza, who was smiling. She was cute when she smiled…Roy stopped thinking and lit another match.

Now, where was he? Ah, the colors. He identified the orange and yellow from before, and decided the tinge on the outside could be described as red-orange. Roy inhaled the sharp, almost suffocating, yet strangely fascinating, scent of the burning match. He watched as the flame swayed at the slightest air current, but always managed to stay alive. Until it was blown out. Again.

Roy turned to Riza, who was now grinning. He put two and two together… "You blew out my match!" Roy accused.

"Who, me?" Riza gazed innocently at him.

"Of course, you!" Roy twitched. "Who else would it be? The cutting board?"

"Well, the cutting board has been known to have a mischievous side…"

"Argh!" Roy struck his third match. He pretended to study it while he was actually watching Riza out of the corner of his eye. He would catch her in the act this time!

Roy was so busy looking at Riza that he wasn't paying attention to the match. His fingers were starting to feel very hot… "AHH!" he yelled and frantically blew out the flame. He shook his hand, which thankfully wasn't burned, and glared at Riza.

"What? _You_ blew it out," she replied to his unspoken allegation. Keeping his eyes on her, Roy lit a new match. She winked at him, and then extinguished the flame.

"You blew it! You blew it this time! I saw you!" Roy declared triumphantly.

"Are you sure? I thought it was the wind." Riza was grinning so widely that Roy suspected that she would laugh out loud at any moment.

"Are _you_ sure? All the windows are closed," he pointed out, grinning as well, confident that he had won this round.

Riza managed to keep a serious expression. "That's what they _want_ you to think."

They chuckled for a few seconds, and then burst out laughing as the hilarity of the entire situation dawned on them. Roy was having trouble breathing and Riza had tears in her eyes.

"STOP THAT RUCKUS!" Hawkeye thundered from his study. The two kids sobered up quickly. Riza bent down to collect the burnt matches and then proceeded to take the kettle off the stove and sprinkle some tea leaves in it. Roy took out a fresh match only to have it plucked out of his grasp.

"No more fire today, pyromaniac," Riza scolded jokingly.

"Aw…hey! I'm _not_ a pyromaniac! Fire merely raises my professional curiosity," Roy said in a dignified manner.

Riza rolled her eyes. "Uh huh. Well, if it raises your 'professional curiosity' that much, Father has a bunch of books in the library about fire."

"Really?" Roy's eyes sparkled.

Riza twitched. "Yes, really. Come on, pyromaniac."

"I'm not a pyromaniac!"

"…How about this—let's have a race to the library. _When_ I win, I get to call you 'pyromaniac' for the rest of the day—"

"And when _I_ win?" Roy asked impatiently.

" 'Pyromaniac' will never leave my lips again," Riza promised.

"Alright! Let's go!" Roy pumped a fist in the air. It was at that moment that he realized he had no idea where the library was.

Riza teased him about it for the rest of the hour. Roy laughed along with her.

Neither had had so much fun in a long time.

**A/N: It's seems reasonable to me that Riza would know how to cook at seven, especially since her dad doesn't seem like a cooking type. Besides, my dad could cook at five, so ha! I am NOT wrong! Anyway, I think it'd be funny to have Roy obsessed with fire, seeing all the good in it and not knowing about the bad stuff. Innocence is a good thing. I think. Okay, enough of my rambling. Review! Please? ^ ^**


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